ORN church concerned it’s not in city’s future plans

Published 9:08 am, Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Leaders of the Oak Ridge Reformed Baptist Church in Oak Ridge North are concerned that proposed changes to the city’s zoning codes could endanger the church’s future.

Among other things, the city hopes to rezone certain areas as part of the city’s North Comprehensive Plan 2013 that will designate the area surrounding City Hall as a “plaza district,” creating a “pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use urban town center environment, resembling a traditional small-town core,” according to the proposed ordinance.

Pastor Jess Larson said he’s concerned that the “permitted uses” of the land as proposed in the ordinance doesn’t allow religious institutions.

The ordinance allows existing organizations to remain at their current locations “unless they’re destroyed or they break the law,” City Attorney Chris Nichols said.

But if a natural disaster or some other unforeseen incident destroys the building, church leaders will have to request the council’s permission to rebuild.

Larson also said the results of a mobility study by the Houston-Galveston Area Council could result in a road running through the church’s property, in which case the church would have to expand to a different lot, Larson said.

“But if you’ve already rezoned it so we can’t use it for religious use, then we can’t do that,” he said.

Larson asked that the ordinance be amended to include religious uses, but City Manager Vicky Rudy said that potentially could upset the city’s plans for a town center model.

“If we did that, then we couldn’t stop five churches from popping up inside our plaza district, and then we’d have no plaza district,” she said. “If we don’t protect it this way, we’ll find ourselves with uses that don’t fit our future plan,” she said.

Mayor Jim Kuykendahl made a pledge to Larson that Oak Ridge Reformed Baptist Church would remain.

“I don’t care whether you get torn down or not, if you’re here and you’re going to rebuild what you’ve got right here, then you’re part of this community and you need to stay a part of this community,” he said.

But Associate Pastor Randy Turner said he is concerned that future mayors and city councils won’t share Kuykendahl’s pledge.

“We have no assurance that Mayor Kuykendahl and these amiable people on the council will be here when we’re ready to do that,” he said.

James Walton, president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, suggested that language be added to the ordinance to guarantee organizations to rebuild as long as the same owner rebuilds for the same purpose.

Kuykendahl and other members of the council spoke in favor of Walton’s suggestion.

The zoning committee will meet again at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to finalize the ordinance’s language before the City Council takes a final vote Oct. 14.